Amazon Web Services said Thursday that it will move its enterprise support tier to a usage-based system over flat fee. The move comes as Amazon Web Services (AWS) revamped its support tiers overall.

AWS' new support tiers---it lowered the prices on premium support and expanded free versions---come as established enterprise vendors such as HPand Oracle are launching public clouds. AWS jumped out to a lead for enterprise cloud services, but established names are likely to pitch support as a differentiator.

Basic (free) support applies to all AWS customers and features a system dashboard, forums, best practices and immediate support for billing, account and system issues.

Developer support, which used to be a bronze tier, features one-on-one support for $49 a month. AWS also promises 12 hour response time and access to engineers via email.

Business support, formerly the gold tier, has the features of developer and basic tiers, but adds 24/7 phone, email and chat support, a one-hour response time and access to AWS Trusted Advisor, which monitors customer patterns and highlights ways to save money and improve performance. Support is included for common third party software on AWS such as email and databases. Prices for the business tier are now $100 a month---down from $400---and usage pricing that now kicks in at 3 percent.

Enterprise support is now usage based. The enterprise support, formerly platinum tier, promises a 15 minute response time, a dedicated technical manager and access to architects and advisors. AWS used to charge a flat 10 percent usage fee, but now added 7 percent, 5 percent and 3 percent tiers.